Cervical cancer (CC) is the leading cause of cancer death among female South Africans (SA). Improved access to reproductive health services following multi-ethnic democracy in 1994, HIV epidemic, and the initiation of CC population-based screening in early 2000's have influenced the epidemiology of CC in SA. We therefore evaluated the trends in CC age-standardized incidence (ASIR) (1994 - 2009) and mortality rates (ASMR) (2004 - 2012) using data from the South African National Cancer Registry and the Statistics South Africa, respectively...

BACKGROUND: A striking number of low birth weight (LBW) Indian babies are born annually. Previous studies have confirmed the positive association between milk intake and birth weight. However, the relations between protein and vitamin B12 from milk and birth weight have not been systematically explored. AIMS: We examined the relations between birth weight and maternal intake of milk, protein from milk and vitamin B12 from milk. METHODS: This prospective, observational cohort study was conducted in an urban South Indian hospital...

In a recent study, limited to South Asian Indian subjects (n=12), coproporphyrin I and III (CPI and CPIII) demonstrated properties appropriate for an OATP1B endogenous probe (Lai et al., 2016). The current studies were conducted in healthy volunteers of mixed ethnicities, including black, white, and Hispanic subjects to better understand the utility of these biomarkers in broader populations. After oral administration with 600 mg rifampin, AUC(0-24h) values were 2.8-, 3.7- and 3.6-fold higher than predose levels for CPI and 2...

This report describes women of Asian descent who gave birth in the United States in 2016. The 2016 vital statistics natality file was used to compare demographic characteristics of non-Hispanic Asian mothers across six Asian subgroups-Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese-both overall and by whether they were U.S.-born or born outside the United States. In addition, non-Hispanic Asian mothers were compared with the overall U.S. population of mothers. Overall, 6.4% of U.S. births in 2016 were to non-Hispanic Asian women...

AIMS: To determine the accuracy of general practice recording of prior cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the time of CVD risk assessment and whether recording impacts on CVD management. METHODS: Prior CVD status entered at the time of a first CVD risk assessment from 2002-2015 was compared to prior ischaemic CVD hospitalisations from national datasets using anonymous linkage with an encrypted National Health Index identifier. Clinical factors associated with inaccurate recording of prior events were identified using multivariable logistic regression...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expanded health coverage for low-earning individuals and families. With more Americans having access to care, the use of elective procedures, such as total hip arthroplasty (THA), was expected to increase. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate trends in THA before and after the initiation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act regarding race, age, body mass index, and sex between 2008 and 2015. The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for all individuals who had undergone primary THA between 2008 and 2015...

Recent loosening of state and federal policy restrictions on marijuana, along with changes in social norms regarding marijuana use and decreases in prevalence of other types of substance use, may lead to increases in youth initiating marijuana before other types of substances such as alcohol and tobacco. We investigated predictors and potential consequences of initiating marijuana before other drugs for youth aged 12-21-years in the USA. Nationally representative, cross-sectional survey data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health supplied self-reported age of first marijuana, cigarettes, alcohol, other tobacco, and other illegal drug use among 12-21-year-old samples from 2004 to 2014 (n = 275,559)...

Background: Quantify the influenza vaccine coverage is essential to identify emerging concerns and to immunization programs for targeting interventions. Methods: Data from National Health Interview Survey were used to estimate receipt of at least one dose of influenza vaccination among children 6 months to 17 years of age. Results: Influenza vaccination coverage increased from 16.70% during 2004/2005 to 49.43% during 2015/2016 (3.18% per year, P < 0...

A low-glycaemic-index (GI) breakfast has been shown to lower blood glucose levels throughout the day. A wide variety of breakfast foods are consumed, but their GI values are largely unknown, hence limiting consumers' ability to select healthier options. This study investigated the GI values of ten common breakfast (five Asian and five Western) foods in this region using a randomised, cross-over study design. Participants arrived after an overnight fast, and fasting blood sample was taken before participants consumed test foods...

SummaryMany factors influence the male:female birth ratio (number of male births divided by total births, M/T). Studies have suggested that this ratio may be positively correlated with the education levels of mothers. This study assessed the effect of maternal education on M/T in the US population overall and by racial group. Number of live births by sex of the child, maternal educational level reached and race were obtained from the Centres for Disease Control (CDC Wonder) for the period 2007-2015. The total study sample comprised 28,268,183 live births...

OBJECTIVES: To develop a simple prostate volume (PV) calculator which can aid in managing patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic enlargement at daily urology services in developing Asian countries. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of men above 40 years with no history of prostate cancer, prostate surgery or 5α-reductase inhibitor treatment. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and total PV were measured in each subject...

Background: Houzao (bezoar) is a valuable imported Chinese medicine that is commonly used as a pediatric medicine to transform phlegm. There are mainly two types of Houzao, "Southeast Asian Houzao" and "Indian Houzao". "Indian Houzao" is the dominant commercial product accounts for over 95% of the actual utilization in the market. However, its origin, formation, composition, efficacy and pharmacology remain unclear. Therefore, we have conducted on-site investigation to clarify the origin of Indian Houzao...

BACKGROUND: Most cardiovascular disease risk prediction equations in use today were derived from cohorts established last century and with participants at higher risk but less socioeconomically and ethnically diverse than patients they are now applied to. We recruited a nationally representative cohort in New Zealand to develop equations relevant to patients in contemporary primary care and compared the performance of these new equations to equations that are recommended in the USA. METHODS: The PREDICT study automatically recruits participants in routine primary care when general practitioners in New Zealand use PREDICT software to assess their patients' risk profiles for cardiovascular disease, which are prospectively linked to national ICD-coded hospitalisation and mortality databases...

The establishment of a well characterized non-human primate model of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is critical for the development of medical interventions. In this study, challenging Indian rhesus macaques (IRMs) with ZIKV strains of the Asian lineage resulted in dose-dependent peak viral loads between days 2 and 5 post infection and a robust immune response which protected the animals from homologous and heterologous re-challenge. In contrast, viremia in IRMs challenged with an African lineage strain was below the assay&rsquo;s lower limit of quantitation, and the immune response was insufficient to protect from re-challenge...

OBJECTIVES: Stature estimation from the skeleton is a classic anthropological problem, and recent years have seen the proliferation of population-specific regression equations. Many rely on the anatomical reconstruction of stature from archaeological skeletons to derive regression equations based on long bone lengths, but this requires a collection with very good preservation. In some regions, for example, South Asia, typical environmental conditions preclude the sufficient preservation of skeletal remains...

OBJECTIVE: Whether the human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with esophageal cancer has been controversial and there has been no report to date on this in Malaysians or other South East Asian populations. With an age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) of 2 per 100,000, esophageal cancers are not common amongst Malaysians, but are nevertheless important due to its poor prognosis. METHODS: Sixty-seven esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), histologically-diagnosed between 1st January 2004 and 31st December 2014 at the Department of Pathology, University of Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia were considered for HPV analysis using 2 commercially-available methods, PCR with flow-through hybridization (21 HPV GenoArray Diagnostic Kit; Hybribio, Hong Kong) and multiplex real-time PCR (Anyplex II HPV28 Detection; Seegene, Korea)...

Background and Aims: Supraglottic airway devices (SGADs) are increasingly being used for airway management in paediatric patients undergoing general anaesthesia. This survey was designed to assess the nationwide practice patterns of SGAD usage in paediatric patients. Methods: A questionnaire of 28 questions was circulated amongst 16,532 members of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists through online survey engine Google Forms® and served manually to 500 delegates attending the Asian Society of Paediatric Anaesthesiologists conference 2017...

Cardiotoxicity is the most serious side effect of anthracyclines (doxorubicin, daunorubicin or epirubicin). The incidence of anthracycline induced late cardiac toxicity (AIC) that is overt clinically is 3-5% in the Indian population. Polymorphism in intron 32 (deletion of 25bp) of MYBPC3 has been shown to be present exclusively in Asians and more so in South India (3-8%). The frequency of the polymorphism is significantly higher (13%) in patients with cardiomyopathy in India. Fifteen patients were identified to have cardiac dysfunction following treatment for malignant lymphoma with doxorubicin containing regimens...

Chikungunya viruses from the 2017 outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were analysed phylogenetically. E1 sequences from 21 strains belonged to the Indian Ocean clade of the East/Central/South African (ECSA) genotype, forming a novel cluster with latest South Asian strains. They lacked the A226V substitution.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) has childhood onset, primarily affects males, and is usually fatal before the age of 40 years. Previous studies have indicated that this X-linked condition is more prevalent in whites than in blacks, but those were based on active surveillance, and limited to smaller populations and younger ages. METHODS: US death data were used to calculate mortality rates by race and ethnicity, with MD as either the underlying or multiple cause of death (MCD)...